Gavin Bryars (16/01/1943), an English composer. He was born in Goole, Yorkshire. His first musical reputation was as a jazz bassist working in the early sixties with improvisers Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley. He abandoned improvisation in 1966 and worked for a time in the United States with John Cage. Subsequently he collaborated closely with composers such as Cornelius Cardew and John White. From 1969 to 1978 he taught in departments of Fine Art in Portsmouth and Leicester, and during the time that he taught at Portsmouth College of Art he was instrumental in founding the legendary Portsmouth Sinfonia. He founded the music department at Leicester Polytechnic (later De Montfort University)and was professor of music there from 1986 to 1994.

parts of the Latin mass and parts of Bede's paraphrase of Caedmon's Creation-Hymn

Duration:

25'06''

In memory of:

Bill Cadman, a colleague who was killed in the Lockerbie bombing (1988)

Label(s):

Polygram Records 462511

Bryars' moving Cadman Requiem, for Bill Cadman, a colleague who was killed in the Lockerbie bombing (1988), combines medieval texts and instruments with modern sensibilities.

Source:

www.artsworld.com

Cadman requiem was written in memory of my friend and sound engineer Bill Cadman, who was killed in the Lockerbie air crash in December 1988. It is in five sections and sets only two of the traditional requiem texts - 'Kyrie' and 'Agnus Dei' - with the addition of 'In Paradisum' which, although from the Order of Burial, is set by Fauré and others. The other two sections, which come in between the traditional parts, are Bede's paraphrase of Caedmon's Creation-Hymn (in Latin like the three traditional movements) and the original Caedmon poem (in 7th century Northumbrian). The surname "Cadman" is a corruption of "Caedmon", the first English poet who, though he considered himself to lack any poetic skill, discovered the gift of poetic utterance when "a certain person" appeared to him in a dream. The piece was written in the spring of 1989 for the four voices of the Hilliard Ensemble accompanied, in the original version, by 2 violas and cello, with optional double bass. Another version was made in the autumn of 1997 for the Hilliard Ensemble to perform with the 6 viol consort Fretwork. It is dedicated to Bill Cadman.